EFFECTIVENESS OF NODE-LINK MAPPING ENHANCED COUNSELING FOR OPIATE ADDICTS - A 12-MONTH POSTTREATMENT FOLLOW-UP

Drug abuse counseling was enhanced by node-link mapping, a visual repr esentation technique, and evaluated in a posttreatment follow-up study . Clients randomly assigned to receive mapping counseling reported les s criminal activity 12 months after treatment than did clients in the standard counseling condition. It was also found that among clients st aying less than 6 months in treatment, those in the mapping group had fewer urine samples that tested positive for opiates at follow-up. Thu s, mapping-enhanced counseling may be especially beneficial for client s who leave treatment prematurely.